Fibrous materials such as straw from flax, sisal, hemp, jute and coir, banana, among others, are used in the formation of biocomposite materials, where the fibrous material is combined with another compound(s), such as a polymer or blend of polymers. The fibrous materials can be in the form of raw fibrous materials, or fibers selected from the components of the raw fibrous material, such as the cellulose fibers once separated from the hemicelluloses, lignin and impurities components of the raw fibrous materials.
Once the fibers, such as from flax, hemp, jute, coir, sisal and banana among other sources, are cleaned, and processed, they are combined with polymers to make biocomposite products. However, during this manufacturing stage for the biocomposite materials, in conventional systems and methods, air, other gases and moisture are trapped inside the resulting biocomposite product. This air and moisture retained in the biocomposite material create pinholes in the biocomposite product formed from the material. In particular, pinholes are air and moisture pockets formed during the processing of the biocomposite product development, when processed fiber is blended with polymer materials, that can expand such as when subjected to heat and pressure during extraction/injection molding process to form the biocomposite materials. These pinholes render the resulting biocomposite material quite porous, which significantly weakens the resulting biocomposite product.
As a result, an apparatus or system and method for reducing or removing the air and moisture present in the biocomposite material, and consequently the pores or pinholes formed in the biocomposite product formed from the biocomposite material in order to increase the strength and durability of biocomposite products is needed.